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With a new Covid-19 variant on the rise, here’s how to stay safe this holiday season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

(CNN) — As people across the country prepare for holiday celebrations, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is urging anyone who hasn’t gotten the latest vaccines against respiratory viruses to do so now to avoid getting sick and spreading illness.For the first time, there are vaccines available to protect against Covid-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV.But there is an “urgent need” to boost vaccination coverage amid increasing levels of respiratory disease, the CDC said in an official health advisory last week. Vaccination rates in children and adults remain low as virus activity increases.Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, says he shares the CDC’s sentiments specifically concerning Covid-19.“The number of Covid hospitalizations is now going up pretty abruptly,” Hotez s...

Preparations underway for annual free Christmas meal in Malden

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

Volunteers are hard at work preparing a meal for the homeless and less fortunate in Malden on Christmas.For more than 30 years, a congregation from a temple in Peabody have prepared the free holiday feast on Christmas Day.The meal includes preparing more than 900 pounds of roast beef and 850 pounds of potatoes.Volunteer Dr. John Weiner said the “army of volunteers” started around 1:30 a.m. to prepare more than 1,900 meals.

Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Navalny located in penal colony 3 weeks after contact lost

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

MOSCOW (AP) — Associates of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Monday that he has been located at a prison colony above the Arctic Circle nearly three weeks after contact with him was lost.Navalny, the most prominent foe of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. He had been imprisoned in the Vladimir region of central Russia, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) east of Moscow, but his lawyers said they had not been able to reach him since Dec. 6.His spokesperson, Kira Yarmysh, said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was located in a prison colony in the town of Kharp, in the Yamalo-Nenetsk region about 1,900 kilometers (1,200 miles) northeast of Moscow.The region is notorious for long and severe winters; the town is near Vorkuta, whose coal mines were among the harshest of the Soviet Gulag prison-camp system.“It is almost impossible to get to this colony; it is almost impossible to even send letters there. This is the...

Egypt floats ambitious plan to end Israel-Hamas war as death toll in an Israeli strike rises to 106

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt has put forward an ambitious, initial proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war with a cease-fire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government of experts who would administer the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, a senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat said Monday.Word of the proposal came as Israeli airstrikes heavily pounded central and southern Gaza, crushing buildings on families sheltering inside. In the Maghazi refugee camp, rescue workers pulled dozens more bodies from the wreckage hours after a strike levelled a three-story building and shattered others nearby.At least 106 people were killed, according to hospital records seen by The Associated Press, making it one of the deadliest strikes of Israel’s air campaign. The Egyptian proposal, worked out with the Gulf nation of Qatar, has been presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments but still appeared preliminary. It falls short of Israel’s professe...

A plane stuck for days in France for a human trafficking investigation leaves for India

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

VATRY, France (AP) — A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation departed on Monday for India, after an exceptional holiday ordeal that left about 300 Indians en route to Central America blocked inside a rural French airport for four days.Associated Press reporters outside the Vatry Airport in Champagne country saw the unmarked Legend Airlines A340 take off after the crew and about 200 other people boarded the plane. It wasn’t immediately clear what would happen with those who didn’t board the plane.The passengers grounded in France included a 21-month-old child and 11 unaccompanied minors who were put under special administrative care. Several passengers have requested asylum in France, according to an official with the Marne regional prefecture. Two passengers were detained and are appearing before a judge Monday to face possible charges including involvement in an organized criminal group helping foreigners enter or stay in a country illeg...

Colorado’s first Firehawk is nearly ready to fight fires after longer delays than expected

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

Colorado’s long-awaited first custom firefighting helicopter has been delayed nearly a year longer than expected, but its backers are hopeful for delivery by early 2024.The Firehawk is a Black Hawk helicopter that’s undergone a near-complete retrofit to equip it to fight wildfires. In addition to custom technology and outfitting for fire crews, the aircraft also sports a water tank that can slurp up 1,000 gallons of water and dump it on hot spots within moments.Lawmakers approved funding for the first Firehawk, at a cost of $24 million, in 2021 with near-unanimous votes in both chambers just months after the devastating 2020 fire season. They approved the purchase of a second helicopter earlier this year, before the first one was complete.Officials had hoped the first Firehawk would land in state hands by the end of 2022. But supply chain delays took a toll, and quality control and inspections proved stickier than officials anticipated.Eric Lama, Aerial Firefighting customer experie...

Denver man awarded Carnegie Medal for saving fisherman from creek in Vail

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

A flat bicycle tire during a trip to the mountains put a Denver man in the position to save another man from a rushing creek, which would later earn him one of the highest honors for heroism in North America.John Chase sits at Lionshead Village in Vail July 17, 2023, in his cycling gear after saving Joseph Radtke’s life after he fell into Gore Creek and got swept up in rapids. Chase jumped into the water and pulled Radtke to shore so first responders could resuscitate him. (Provided by John Chase)On July 17, John Chase, a 53-year-old lawyer from Denver, and his wife, Christy Chase, traveled to Vail planning to ride Vail Pass, but his flat tire sent them in the opposite direction to get it fixed.That “fortuitous” course change would end with Chase swimming to the rescue of Joseph Radtke, an 80-year-old fisherman who fell into the rapids of Gore Creek near its confluence with the Eagle River after his dog fell and pulled him down.“I would like to think what I d...

Why the best comp for 49ers’ Brock Purdy isn’t Montana or Marino but Drew Brees

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

SANTA CLARA — Brock Purdy idolized Dan Marino by proxy through the eyes of his father, a former Dolphins fan who grew up in Florida.The second-year 49ers’ quarterback is identified locally as the heir to Joe Montana after just 23 games, which would seem ridiculous except Purdy’s production has him in the running for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award as the 49ers (11-3) host the Baltimore Ravens (11-3) on Christmas night at Levi’s Stadium.But as Purdy’s career progressed through high school in Arizona and college at Iowa State, he found a logical comparison for his own skillset in Drew Brees.Purdy turns 24 next Wednesday, so Montana had been retired for five years before he was born. Marino played his last game on Jan. 2, 2000, five days after Purdy’s birth. Right about the time Purdy was getting serious about football, he realized there was an NFL star in his prime with the New Orleans Saints who mirrored his own strengths and perceived s...

Wish Book 2023: ‘This bike shop will help a lot of people get their lives together’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

Life hasn’t been easy for Paul Foxx.He has been homeless now for some 20 years, dealing with harsh weather conditions, violence and the vast unpredictability that comes with life on the street.Most recently, he’s been living in a tent under a bridge in downtown San Jose.“That’s what I can do right now,” the 65-year-old Foxx says. “I don’t have enough to rent a place.”Despite his troubles, Foxx comes across as quite chipper and positive as he talks about how the free bike he received from Good Karma Bikes improved his situation.“The bike made my life a lot easier,” he says. “I was able to take care of all kinds of business.”Foxx is one of thousands of people who have benefited from the free bikes given out by Good Karma Bikes, a San Jose nonprofit that got its start in 2008, and officially incorporated the following year. The organization works to empower their clients by providing them with a much-needed form of transportation.Paul Foxx, who received a bike from Good Karma Bik...

Hundreds of new Bay Area housing units could be left sitting vacant as they await PG&E equipment

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:39:21 GMT

In downtown Oakland, a new 19-story apartment tower with 236 units could be left sitting vacant — not for lack of demand from renters, but because of a shortage of components required to connect the building to the electrical grid.The tower’s developer, oWow, was caught off guard when it went to place an order for three subsurface distribution transformers earlier this month, only to be told by Pacific Gas & Electric that the critical equipment — which converts energy from the grid into power for residential use  — wouldn’t be available until the second half of 2024.Developers across the Bay Area are dealing with the transformer conundrum. A nationwide shortage has led to enormous backlogs, creating a roadblock to development in an industry that already must clear a number of hurdles to build more needed housing.Around 540 PG&E customers are waiting on transformers in Northern and Central California, and about 40% are in the Bay Area, the company said. In Novembe...